STAR Sports to purchase TEN Sports broadcasting rights

STAR Sports has announced their decision to purchase the broadcasting rights possessed by TEN Sports, for India’s current tour of South Africa. This deal will include the telecast rights of the two ODIs that took place and also the Test Series, out of which one match has already been played.

Reports suggest that this deal is being struck, so that STAR can strengthen its hold on cricket broadcasting in India, and also fulfill its major objective of destroying public interest in football, especially the English Premier League.

This move had been planned ever since the tour of South Africa had been announced, and it was finally go time after the end of the first Test, where Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara shone with the bat, as both batsmen scored a century in the match in difficult conditions in South Africa. The purchase of the rights means that STAR now has new material to show on its channels, after reruns of Perfect Pujara, Virat the go-getter, All Rounder Ashwin, Outstanding Ojha, Swinging Shami etc. had left viewers exasperated. The series also marks the return of Zaheer Khan to the Test scenario, which means that STAR is all set to launch a new TV show Zealous Zaheer, and show his spells from the South Africa tour.

A spokesperson on behalf of STAR Sports said, “After the two centuries by Kohli and Pujara, we are set to purchase the broadcasting rights from TEN Sports. Star Sports 1 to 3 will have the same shows running and no changes will be made as the viewers love watching the highlights of the India-West Indies Test series again and again, and the highlights of the South Africa tour can last for the next 3-4 years, which puts us in a great position for the future. As far as the individual player shows are concerned, the old shows will continue to run till 2015 on Star Sports 3, and from the South Africa tour we are launching Zealous Zaheer, Peerless Pujara and Versatile Virat for Star Sports 4, where we are forced to broadcast Premier League and Serie A action on weekends.”

This deal has come to delight cricket fans in India, with 19-year old Abhishek from Delhi saying, “This is a dream come true for cricket fans like me. I watch STAR Sports all day just to see Shami destroying the West Indies batting again and again, and now I can recite all the batsmen dismissed in sequence. Now with the new shows, I can see all the action again 20 times, which I have already seen live a week ago.”

Football fans across the country have more reason to cringe as the number of live EPL matches will be reduced even more, and their cries and petitions fall on deaf ears, as the cricket reruns continue to be broadcasted day in-day out. This only helps STAR’s motives, as it makes them more frustrated and hopefully for STAR, they give up watching football altogether and join the cricketing bandwagon.